System and method of data transmission rate adjustment

ABSTRACT

Disclosed are systems and methods for adjusting the frequency of data transmissions in a voice activated data packet based environment. A pooling component can generate first and second action data structures into a pooled data structure, and can transmit the pooled data structure to a service provider computing device to cause it device to perform an operation defined by the pooled data structure. Based on characteristics of the client devices, the system can select transmission rates for the transmission of operations associated with the pooled data structure to each of the client devices.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims the benefit of and priority under 35 U.S.C. § 120 as a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/831,152, filed Aug. 20, 2015, which claims the benefit of and priority under 35 U.S.C. § 120 as a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/549,140, filed Nov. 20, 2014, which claims the benefit of and priority under 35 U.S.C. § 120 as a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/309,337, filed Jun. 19, 2014, which claims the benefit of and priority under 35 U.S.C. § 120 as a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/600,581, filed Aug. 31, 2012, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,768,769, issued Jul. 1, 2015, which claims the benefit of and priority under 35 U.S.C. § 120 as a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/278,338, filed Oct. 21, 2011, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,260,665, issued Sep. 4, 2012, which claims the benefit of and priority under 35 U.S.C. § 120 as a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/035,202, filed Feb. 21, 2008, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,065,185, issued Nov. 22, 2011. This application also claims the benefit of and priority under 35 U.S.C. § 120 as a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/395,707, filed Dec. 30, 2016. Each of the foregoing applications are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.

BACKGROUND

Excessive network transmissions, packet-based or otherwise, of network traffic data between computing devices can prevent a computing device from properly processing the network traffic data, completing an operation related to the network traffic data, or timely responding to the network traffic data. The excessive network transmissions of network traffic data can also complicate data routing or degrade the quality of the response if the responding computing device is at or above its processing capacity, which may result in inefficient bandwidth utilization. The control of network transmissions corresponding to content item objects can be complicated by the large number of content item objects that can initiate network transmissions of network traffic data between computing devices.

SUMMARY

According to one aspect of the disclosure, a system to adjust a frequency of data transmissions includes a data processing system to receive, by a communication interface of the data processing system, an indication of an unfulfilled slot from a service provider computing device. The data processing system can receive, by the communication interface of the data processing system, a characteristic of each of a plurality of candidate devices. The characteristic can be based on physical activity information detected by a sensor of each of the respective plurality of candidate devices. The data processing system can select, from a database of the data processing system, a digital component associated with the service provider. The data processing system can identify, by the data processing system, a first device from the plurality of candidate devices and a first transmission rate based on the characteristic of each of the plurality of candidate devices. The data processing system can identify, by the data processing system, a second device from the plurality of candidate devices and a second transmission rate based on the characteristic of each of the plurality of candidate devices. The second transmission rate can be different than the first transmission rate. The data processing system can transmit the digital component to the first device at the first rate. The data processing system can transmit the digital component to the second device at the second rate.

According to another aspect of the disclosure, a method to adjust a frequency of data transmission can include receiving, by a communication interface of a data processing system, an indication of an unfulfilled slot from a service provider computing device. The method can include receiving, by the communication interface of the data processing system, a characteristic of each of a plurality of candidate devices. The characteristic can be based on physical activity information detected by a sensor of each of the respective plurality of candidate devices. The method can include selecting, from a database of the data processing system, a digital component associated with the service provider. The method can include identifying, by the data processing system, a first device from the plurality of candidate devices and a first transmission rate based on the characteristic of each of the plurality of candidate devices. The method can include identifying, by the data processing system, a second device from the plurality of candidate devices and a second transmission rate based on the characteristic of each of the plurality of candidate devices. The second transmission rate can be different than the first transmission rate. The method can include transmitting the digital component to the first device at the first rate. The method can include transmitting the digital component to the second device at the second rate.

These and other aspects and implementations are discussed in detail below. The foregoing information and the following detailed description include illustrative examples of various aspects and implementations, and provide an overview or framework for understanding the nature and character of the claimed aspects and implementations. The drawings provide illustration and a further understanding of the various aspects and implementations, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings are not intended to be drawn to scale. Like reference numbers and designations in the various drawings indicate like elements. For purposes of clarity, not every component may be labeled in every drawing. In the drawings:

FIG. 1A depicts a system to manage voice activated threads in a voice activated data packet based computer network environment;

FIG. 1B depicts a functional diagram of a pooled data structure for a voice activated data packet based computer network environment;

FIG. 1C depicts a functional diagram of action data structure pooling and communication between remote data processing systems and service provider computing devices in a voice activated data packet based computer network environment;

FIG. 2 illustrates further details of a voice activated data packet based computer network environment;

FIG. 3 illustrates further details of a voice activated data packet based computer network environment;

FIG. 4 further illustrates various network aspects of a voice activated data packet based computer network environment;

FIG. 5 illustrates a further aspect of network elements of a voice activated data packet based computer network environment;

FIG. 6 illustrates a flow chart of a method for matching content;

FIG. 7 illustrates a flow diagram of an example method for adjusting a frequency of data transmission; and

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating a general architecture for a computer system that may be employed to implement elements of the systems and methods described and illustrated herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Following below are more detailed descriptions of various concepts related to, and implementations of, methods, apparatuses, and systems to manage voice activated threads in a voice activated data packet (or other protocol) based computer network environment. The various concepts introduced above and discussed in greater detail below may be implemented in any of numerous ways.

Systems and methods of the present disclosure relate generally to a data processing system that manages redundant or overlapping voice activated threads in a voice activated computer network environment. The voice activated threads can indicate one or more actions represented by at least one action data structure. The data processing system can improve the efficiency and effectiveness of data packet transmission over one or more computer networks by, for example, pooling (e.g., merging, aggregating, or batching) action data structures due to overlapping subject matter or other overlapping or common parameters. Data packets or other protocol based signals corresponding to the pooled action data structures can be processed by a direct action application programming interface (API) of the data processing system to provide responsive data (e.g., audio output) or to accomplish a task or action related to the pooled action data structure. The data packets or other protocol based signals corresponding to the pooled action data structures can be routed through a computer network from the data processing system to at least one service provider computing device to accomplish a task or action related to the pooled action data structure.

By merging or pooling multiple action data structures into a single or pooled action data structure, and batch processing the pooled action data structure, the data processing system can reduce processor utilization, power consumption, bandwidth utilization, and memory usage relative to individual or non-pooled evaluation of the individual action data structures. For example, providing the pooled action data structure to the service provider computing device via a computer network can use less bandwidth than providing multiple individual action data structures to the service provider computing device. The pooled action data structure can eliminate redundancies present in multiple individual action data structures, resulting in decreased processor and power utilization by the data processing system when determining actions responsive to the pooled action data structure, relative to determining actions responsive to each individual or un-pooled action data structure.

By at least partially bypassing individual action data structure processing and instead generating pooled action data structures, the data processing system can reduce, delay, or eliminate data processing associated with individual action data structure operations. This saves processing power and other computing resources such as memory, reduces electrical power consumption by the data processing system and the reduced data transmissions via the computer network reduces bandwidth requirements and usage of the data processing system.

The systems and methods described herein can include a data processing system that receives an input audio query, which can also be referred to as an input audio signal. From the input audio signal the data processing system can identify a request and a trigger keyword corresponding to the request. Based on the trigger keyword or the request, the data processing system can determine a first action data structure that includes at least one parameter defining a first action. The data processing system can also receive a second input audio signal, and from at least one request or trigger keyword of the second input audio signal, can identify from the second input audio signal a second action data structure that includes at least one parameter defining the second action. The data processing system can determine from the parameters of the first and second action data structures, at least one pooling parameter. The pooling parameter can indicate a level of overlap (e.g., subject matter commonality) between the first action data structure and the second action data structure.

Based on the pooling parameter, the data processing system can combine the first action data structure and the second action data structure to generate a pooled data structure. The pooled data structure can indicate at least one parameter of actions (e.g., the first action or the second action) common to client computing devices that are the sources of the input audio signals. The data processing system can process the pooled data structure to generate output signals (e.g., an audio content item for rendering at one or more client computing devices), or to accomplish tasks related to the first and second actions. The data processing system can also transmit the pooled data structure to at least one service provider computing device, to cause the service provider to perform operations defined by the pooled data structure. These operations can correspond to the first or second actions, and can accomplish tasks related to the first or second actions. Pooling the action data structures causes the operations or tasks that correspond to the first or second actions to be performed or accomplished by the data processing system (or by the service provider computing device) with less data processing and less electrical power usage than would be the case without the pooling operation.

FIG. 1A depicts an example system 100 to manage or otherwise optimize processing of voice activated threads in a voice activated data packet (or other protocol) based computer network environment. The system 100 can include at least one data processing system 105. The data processing system 105 can include at least one server having at least one processor. For example, the data processing system 105 can include a plurality of servers located in at least one data center or server farm. The data processing system 105 can determine, from audio input signals, requests and trigger keywords associated with the request. Based on the requests and trigger keywords the data processing system 105 can generate action data structures, each having respective parameters that indicate or define respective actions. The data processing system 105 can determine, from the respective parameters, a level of commonality or overlap between the action data structures. Responsive to a determination by the data processing system of a sufficient level of overlap, the data processing system 105 can pool (or otherwise combine or merge) multiple different action data structures into a pooled action data structure.

The data processing system 105 can include multiple, logically-grouped servers and facilitate distributed computing techniques. The logical group of servers may be referred to as a data center, server farm or a machine farm. The servers can be geographically dispersed. A data center or machine farm may be administered as a single entity, or the machine farm can include a plurality of machine farms. The servers within each machine farm can be heterogeneous—one or more of the servers or machines can operate according to one or more type of operating system platform. The data processing system 105 can include servers in a data center that are stored in one or more high-density rack systems, along with associated storage systems, located for example in an enterprise data center. The data processing system 105 with consolidated servers in this way can improve system manageability, data security, physical security of the system, and system performance by locating servers and high performance storage systems on localized high performance networks. Centralization of all or some of the data processing system 105 components, including servers and storage systems, and coupling them with advanced system management tools allows more efficient use of server resources, which saves power and processing requirements and reduces bandwidth usage.

The data processing system 105 can include at least one natural language processor (NLP) component 110, at least one interface 115, at least one pooling component 120, at least one content selector component 125, at least one audio signal generator component 130, at least one direct action application programming interface (API) 135, at least one session handler component 140, and at least one data repository 145. The NLP component 110, interface 115, pooling component 120, content selector component 125, audio signal generator component 130, direct action API 135, and session handler component 140 can each include at least one processing unit, server, virtual server, circuit, engine, agent, appliance, or other logic device such as programmable logic arrays configured to communicate with the data repository 145 and with other computing devices (e.g., the client computing device 150, the content provider computing device 155, or the service provider computing device 160) via the at least one computer network 202. The network 202 can include computer networks such as the internet, local, wide, metro or other area networks, intranets, satellite networks, other computer networks such as voice or data mobile phone communication networks, and combinations thereof.

The network 202 can include or constitute a display network, e.g., a subset of information resources available on the internet that are associated with a voice activated assistant system, content placement or search engine results system, or that are eligible to include third party content items as part of a content item placement campaign. The network 202 can be used by the data processing system 105 to access information resources such as web pages, web sites, domain names, or uniform resource locators that can be presented, output, rendered, or displayed by the client computing device 150. For example, via the network 202 a user of the client computing device 150 can access information or data provided by the content provider computing device 155 or the service provider computing device 160.

The network 202 can include, for example a point-to-point network, a broadcast network, a wide area network, a local area network, a telecommunications network, a data communication network, a computer network, an ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) network, a SONET (Synchronous Optical Network) network, a SDH (Synchronous Digital Hierarchy) network, a wireless network or a wireline network, and combinations thereof. The network 202 can include a wireless link, such as an infrared channel or satellite band. The topology of the network 202 may include a bus, star, or ring network topology. The network 202 can include mobile telephone networks using any protocol or protocols used to communicate among mobile devices, including advanced mobile phone protocol (“AMPS”), time division multiple access (“TDMA”), code-division multiple access (“CDMA”), global system for mobile communication (“GSM”), general packet radio services (“GPRS”) or universal mobile telecommunications system (“UMTS”). Different types of data may be transmitted via different protocols, or the same types of data may be transmitted via different protocols.

The client computing device 150, the content provider computing device 155, and the service provider computing device 160 can each include at least one logic device such as a computing device having a processor to communicate with each other or with the data processing system 105 via the network 202. The client computing device 150, the content provider computing device 155, and the service provider computing device 160 can each include at least one server, processor or memory, or a plurality of computation resources or servers located in at least one data center. The client computing device 150, the content provider computing device 155, and the service provider computing device 160 can each include at least one computing device such as a desktop computer, laptop, tablet, personal digital assistant, smartphone, portable computer, server, thin client computer, virtual server, or other computing device.

The client computing device 150 can include at least one sensor 151, at least one transducer 152, at least one audio driver 153, and at least one speaker 154. The sensor 151 can include a microphone or audio input sensor. The transducer 152 can convert the audio input into an electronic signal. The audio driver 153 can include a script or program executed by one or more processors of the client computing device 150 to control the sensor 151, the transducer 152 or the audio driver 153, among other components of the client computing device 150 to process audio input or provide audio output. The speaker 154 can transmit or render the audio output signal.

The client computing device 150 can be associated with an end user that enters voice queries as audio input into the client computing device 150 (via the sensor 151) and receives audio output in the form of a computer generated voice that can be provided from the data processing system 105 (or the content provider computing device 155 or the service provider computing device 160) to the client computing device 150, output from the speaker 154. The computer generated voice can include recordings from a real person or computer generated language.

The content provider computing device 155 can provide audio based content items for display by the client computing device 150 as an audio output content item. The content item can include an offer for a good or service, such as a voice based message that states: “Would you like me to order you a taxi?” For example, the content provider computing device 155 can include memory to store a series of audio content items that can be provided in response to a voice based query. The content provider computing device 155 can also provide audio based content items (or other content items) to the data processing system 105 where they can be stored in the data repository 145. The data processing system 105 can select the audio content items and provide (or instruct the content provider computing device 155 to provide) the audio content items to the client computing device 150. The audio based content items can be exclusively audio or can be combined with text, image, or video data.

The data processing system 105 can also perform conversions, e.g., accomplish tasks responsive to the input audio signal. For example, via the direct action API 135, the data processing system 105 can order a taxi responsive to a request to do so received from the client computing device 150. The data processing system 105 can also perform a conversion by providing data (e.g., a pooled data structure) to the service provider computing device 160 so that the service provider computing device can accomplish a task by, for example, ordering a taxi responsive to a request to do so received by the data processing system 105 from the client computing device 150. The data processing system 105 can also obtain conversion information, e.g., indicating that a task or action was accomplished, from the client computing devices 150, from the content provider computing devices 155, or from the service provider computing devices 160.

The service provider computing device 160 can include at least one service provider natural language processor (NLP) component 161 and at least one service provider interface 162. The service provider NLP component 161 (or other components such as a direct action API of the service provider computing device 160) can engage with the client computing device 150 (via the data processing system 105 or bypassing the data processing system 105) to create a back-and-forth real-time voice or audio based conversation (e.g., a session or conversation session) between the client computing device 150 and the service provider computing device 160. For example, the service provider interface 162 can receive or provide data messages to the direct action API 135 of the data processing system 105. The service provider computing device 160 and the content provider computing device 155 can be associated with the same entity. For example, the content provider computing device 155 can create, store, or make available content items for a car sharing service, and the service provider computing device 160 can establish a session with the client computing device 150 to arrange for a delivery of a taxi or car of the car share service to pick up the end user of the client computing device 150. The data processing system 105, via the direct action API 135, the NLP component 110 or other components can also establish the session with the client computing device, including or bypassing the service provider computing device 160, to arrange for example for a delivery of a taxi or car of the car share service.

The data repository 145 can include one or more local or distributed databases, and can include a database management system. The data repository 145 can include computer data storage or memory and can store one or more parameters 146, one or more policies 147, content data 148, or templates 149 among other data. The parameters 146, policies 147, and templates 149 can include information such as rules about a voice based session between the client computing device 150 and the data processing system 105 (or the service provider computing device 160). The content data 148 can include content items for audio output or associated metadata, as well as input audio messages that can be part of one or more communication sessions with the client computing device 150.

The system 100 can optimize or manage processing of voice activated threads (e.g., that indicate one or more actions) in a voice activated data packet (or other protocol) environment. For example, the data processing system 105 can include or be part of a voice activated assistant service, voice command device, intelligent personal assistant, knowledge navigator, event planning, or other assistant program. The data processing system 105 can provide one or more instances of audio output for display from the client computing device 150 to accomplish tasks related to this input audio signal. The tasks can include, for example, communicating with the service provider computing device 160 or other third party computing devices to make dinner reservations or purchase movie tickets. For example, an end user can enter an input audio signal into the client computing device 150 of: “OK, I would like to go to go dinner and then a movie tonight.”

The data processing system 105 can include an application, script or program installed at the client computing device 150, such as an app of a voice activated assistant system to communicate input audio signals to the interface 115 of the data processing system 105 and to drive components of the client computing device to render output audio signals. The data processing system 105 can receive data packets or other signal that includes or identifies an audio input signal. For example, the data processing system 105 can execute or run the NLP component 110 to receive the audio input signal.

The audio input signal can be detected by the sensor 151 (e.g., a microphone) of the client computing device. Via the transducer 152, the audio driver 153, or other components the client computing device 150 can provide the audio input signal to the data processing system 105 (e.g., via the network 202) where it can be received (e.g., by the interface 115) and provided to the NLP component 110 or stored in the data repository 145 as content data 148.

The NLP component 110 can obtain the input audio signal. From the input audio signal, the NLP component 110 can identify at least one request or at least one trigger keyword corresponding to the request. The request can indicate intent or subject matter of the input audio signal. The trigger keyword can indicate a type of action likely to be taken. For example, the NLP component 110 can parse the input audio signal to identify at least one request to leave home for the evening to attend dinner and a movie. The trigger keyword can include at least one word, phrase, root or partial word, or derivative indicating an action to be taken. For example, the trigger keyword “go” or “to go to” from the input audio signal can indicate a need for transport. In this example, the input audio signal (or the identified request) does not directly express an intent for transport, however the trigger keyword indicates that transport is an ancillary or sub-action to at least one other action that is indicated by the request.

The NLP component 110 can convert the audio input signal into recognized text by comparing the input signal against a stored, representative set of audio waveforms (e.g., in the data repository 145) and choosing the closest matches. The representative waveforms are generated across a large set of users, and can be augmented with speech samples. After the audio signal is converted into recognized text, the NLP component 110 can match the text to words that are associated, for example via training across users or through manual specification, with actions that the data processing system 105 can serve.

The direct action API 135 can execute programs or scripts, for example from the NLP component 110, the pooling component 120, or the content selector component 125 to identify content items for one or more of these actions. The direct action API 135 can execute a specified action to satisfy the end user's intention, as determined by the data processing system 105. Depending on the action specified in its inputs, the direct action API 135 can execute code or a dialog script that identifies the parameters required to fulfill a user request. Such code can lookup additional information, e.g., in the data repository 145, such as the name of a home automation service, or it can provide audio output for rendering at the client computing device 150 to ask the end user questions such as the intended destination of a requested taxi, for example. The direct action API 135 can determine necessary parameters and can package the information into an action data structure, which can then be sent to another component such as the content selector component 125 or to the service provider computing device 160 to be fulfilled. The direction action API 135 can execute on, or include, hardware of the data processing system 105 such as one or more processors of one or more servers in one or more data centers.

The direct action API 135 of the data processing system 105 can generate, based on the request or the trigger keyword, data structures for the actions of the thread. The action data structures can be generated responsive to the request. The action data structure can be included in the messages that are transmitted to or received by the service provider computing device 160, e.g. as part of or associated with pooled data structures. Based on the request parsed by the NLP component 110, the direct action API 135 can determine to which of a plurality of service provider computing devices 160 the message should be sent. For example, if an input audio signal includes “order a taxi,” the NLP component 110 can identify the trigger word “order” and the request for a taxi. The direct action API 135 can package the request into an action data structure for transmission as a message to a service provider computing device 160 of a taxi service. The message can also be passed to the content selector component 125. The action data structure can include information for completing the request. In this example, the information can include a pick up location and a destination location. The direct action API 135 can retrieve a template 149 from the repository 145 to determine which fields to include in the action data structure. The direct action API 135 can retrieve content from the repository 145 to obtain information for the fields of the data structure. The direct action API 135 can populate the fields from the template with that information to generate the data structure. The direct action API 135 can also populate the fields with data from the input audio signal. The templates 149 can be standardized for categories of service providers or can be standardized for specific service providers. For example, ride sharing service providers can use the following standardized template 149 to create the data structure: {client_device_identifier; authentication_credentials; pick_up_location; destination_location; no_passengers; service_level}.

The NLP component 110 can obtain the input audio signal as data packet or other protocol based transmissions from the client computing device 150. For example, the input audio signal could be a voice input into the sensor 151 (e.g., a microphone) of “OK, take me home”. From this input audio signal, the NLP component 110 can identify at least one request or at least one trigger keyword. The request can indicate subject matter of the input audio signal, e.g., travel. The trigger keyword can indicate an action, e.g., “take” or “home” can indicate a need for a car share service to a destination associated with a home destination of the client computing device 150 that originated the input audio signal.

The direct action API 135 can obtain the requests or trigger keywords that correspond to the input audio signal, and from this information can generate an action data structure. The action data structure can include information used, for example, to communicate with the service provider computing device to reserve a car from a car share service to take the end user (who originated the input audio signal into the client computing device) to a destination. The action data structure can, with end user consent, include parameters such as information identifying the location of the client computing device 150 to arrange the pickup by the car share service, as well as information identifying the destination location. The parameters can be stored in and retrieved from the data repository (e.g., parameters 146) by data processing system 105 components. The direction action API 135 can also generate the action data structure to include or indicate parameters such as account information of an account associated with the car share service. For example, the direct action API 135 can obtain, with end user consent, this account information (or other parameter) from an app or program for the car share service that is installed on the client computing device 150. The parameters can indicate or define actions associated with the action data structures. The direct action API 135 can be installed on the data processing system 105, remote from the client computing device 150. The direct action API 135 can perform a direct conversion, e.g., place an order with the service provider computing device 160 for the car share service trip, or indirectly by providing the action data structure to the service provider computing device 160 for the service provider computing device 160 to process the action data structure in order to complete the car reservation transaction.

The NLP component 110 can obtain multiple input audio signals from the same or different client computing devices 150. For each input audio signal, the NLP component can identify or create corresponding requests or corresponding trigger keywords. The direct action API 135 can generate, based on the respective requests or keywords, action data structures corresponding to the respective input audio signals. For example, the NLP component 110 can receive a first input audio signal indicating the voice input “OK, take me home”. In response, the direct action API 135 can generate a first action data structure that can be used to reserve a car from a car share service for the end user associated with the first input audio signal. The NLP component 110 can also receive a second input audio signal indicating, for example, “OK, can I get a taxi please”. In response, the direct action API 135 can generate a second action data structure for a car share service for the end user associated with the second input audio signal.

The first and second input audio signal can originate from the same client computing device 150 or from different client computing devices 150, and can be associated with the same or different end users. For example, the NLP component 110 can receive first input audio signal from a first client computing device 150 and can receive a second input audio signal from a second client computing device 150 that can be associated with different end users. From this information, which can include metadata or header information of packet based transmissions, among supplemental information that can be obtained from sources other than the input audio signal, such as from content data 148 of the data repository 145, the direct action API 135 can generate a first data structure for the first input audio signal and a second data structure for the second input audio signal. The first and second data structures can both indicate requests to reserve a car from a car share service. Each action data structure can include parameters that indicate their own origination and destination locations, or can indicate different accounts that different end users have with the car share service (or other parameters). The action data structure can also include one or more parameters that indicate that a client computing device 150 (or associated end user) does not have an account with the car share service or other entity.

Based for example on parameters of multiple action data structures, the pooling component 120 can identify overlap or similarities between two or more different action data structures that were generated from different input audio signals. For example, one or more processors of the data processing system 105 can include or execute the pooling component 120, remote from the client computing device 105 and remote from the service provider computing device 160, to identify overlapping or common subject matter of two or more different action data structures. The pooling component 120 can apply a heuristic technique to identify with a threshold degree of certainty of common patterns among the parameters of the different action data structures.

The level of overlap can be or include a similarity metric that indicates a common feature of multiple action data structures. The pooling component 120 can determine a similarity metric indicating the multiple action data structures relate to time data, location data, service provider entity data, subject matter data, or geographic data. For example, the pooling component 120 can determine that multiple action data structures include requests for transport from the same transportation company, or reservations for different times or evenings for the same restaurant, requests to travel to or from a common destination or geographic area, or requests to order one or more products from one entity. The pooling component 120 can identify the similarity metrics or common features as at least one pooling parameter, and based on the pooling parameter the pooling component can create the batched or pooled data structure. The overlap may but need not include at least partially identical code or partially identical action data structures. For example, the pooling component 120 can identify overlap based on requests for services from the same entity, or based on commonality among parameters of the action data structures such as a similar, but not identical, time or location data.

For example, parameters of the first action data structure can indicate a request for a car share service from a pickup location of ‘point A’ to a destination of ‘point B’. Parameters of the second action data structure can indicate a different request for a car share service from a pickup location of ‘point C’ to a destination of ‘point D’. By applying a heuristic or other statistical technique, the data processing system 105 or component thereof (e.g., the pooling component 120) can determine that pickup location ‘point C’ is located between, or within a threshold distance (e.g., 1 mile) of a route between, ‘point A’ and ‘point B’. The pooling component 120 can also determine that ‘point D’ is located within a threshold distance (e.g., 5 miles) of destination ‘point B’. While the parameters of the different action data structures (e.g., parameters indicating different points A-D, or other information such as different accounts associated with different client computing devices 150, the pooling component 120 can determine that sufficient overlap or commonality exists between the parameters due, for example to route similarities satisfying threshold metrics. The pooling component 120 can also determine that the two action data structures overlap because their respective parameters indicate that they are associated with respective input audio signals that were made within a threshold time period of one another, such as within 1 minute, one hour, of other time period of each other, or because their respective parameters indicate that they are both requesting a good or service from the same entity.

The pooling component 120 can generate, based on the analysis of at least two action data structures, at least one pooling parameter. The pooling parameter can indicate common subject matter, features, entities, or parameters from among two or more action data structures. For example, the pooling parameter can indicate that the requests for car share services indicated by parameters of the first and second action data structures share similar locations, or similar routes between respective sources and destinations. The direction action API 135 (or the service provider computing device 160) can use this information to service the actions associated with or indicated by the action data structures, such as car service rides between respective sources and destinations.

Referring to FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B, among others, based on the determined level of overlap, the pooling component 120 can create at least one pooled data structure 175. The pooled data structure can include a packet based architecture (or another format) and can include a header 176. The header 176 can include supplemental data identifying the data processing system 105, source or destination address information, governing protocol information, IP addresses, frame synchronization data, size data, resolution data, or metadata associated with action data structures. The payload or body of the pooled data structure 175 can include at least one pooling parameter 177, or other information such as at least one first parameter 178 or at least one second parameters 179. The first parameter 178 can include a parameter of the first action data structure 180, and the second parameters 179 can include a parameter of the second action data structure 181. The first parameter 178, second parameter 179, first action data structure 180 and the second action data structure 181 may but need not be included in the pooled data structure 175. For example, the body of the pooled data structure 175 can include only the pooling parameter 177 (and not include any of the first parameter 178, the second parameter 179, the first action data structure 180 or the second action data structure 181), or the body of the pooled data structure 175 can include the pooling parameter 177 as well as one or more of the first parameter 178, the second parameter 179, the first action data structure 180 or the second action data structure 181. The pooled data structure 175 can include one or more individual packets transmitted separately in sequence or parallel as part of one or more data transmissions between the data processing system 105 and the service provider computing device 160. The pooling parameter, or information in headers 176 can indicate that the separate transmissions or separate data packets are associated with the same batch transmission, e.g., the same overall pooled data structure 175.

Referring to FIG. 1C, among others, the data processing system 105 can receive, from a first client computing device 150, the first input audio signal 182, (e.g., “OK, take me home”). The data processing system 105 can also receive, from a second client computing device 150, the second input audio signal 310, (e.g., “OK, can I get a taxi please”). The data processing system 105 can determine respective parameters that define actions associated with the first input audio signal 182 and the second audio input signal 183. Data processing system 105 components such as the pooling component 120 can apply statistical or heuristic techniques to the parameters associated with the first input audio signal 182 and the second input audio signal 310 to generate at least one pooling parameter indicative of subject matter overlap or commonality between the first input audio signal 182 and the second input audio signal 310. For example, the pooling parameter can indicate that the first input audio signal 182 and the second input audio signal both relate to requests to hire a car from a car share service. The data processing system 105 can batch or pool the action data structures corresponding to the first input audio signal 182 and the second input audio signal 310 to create the batched or pooled data structure 175. The data processing system 105 can transmit or otherwise provide the pooled data structure 175 to the service provider computing device 160 for processing by the service provider computing device 160 to reserve at least one car responsive to the first and second input audio signals.

The pooled data structure 175 can include pooling parameters generated from more than two action data structures (or more than two input audio signals). For example, a third audio input signal can cause the data processing system 105 to generate a third action data structure for a third action. The pooling component 120 can identify at least one pooling parameter based on parameters of the third action data structure. Responsive to this determination, the pooling component 120 can modify the pooled data structure 175 to include or indicate an association with the third data structure, or can include a new pooled data structure associated with three (or more) input audio signals.

By consolidating individual action data structures into at least one pooled data structure 175 and transmitting the pooled data structure(s) 200 to the service provider computing device 160, rather than the individual action data structures for each input audio signal 182, 183, the data processing system 105 can reduce the number, size, or frequency of data transmissions via the network 202. This can reduce bandwidth utilization of network transmissions, and can reduce processing power and memory storage requirements of both the data processing system 105 (e.g., data repository 145) and of the service provider computing device 160 that would otherwise be used to process and transmit individual action data structures that may have a level of redundancy or subject matter overlap contained within their data.

The pooled data structure 175 may but need not be a single data structure. For example, the pooled data structure can include multiple individual data structures transmitted by the data processing system 105, with or without the pooling parameters, as part of a batched or periodic transmission to one or more service provider computing devices 160 controlled by one entity, such as a car share service provider.

The data processing system 105 and the service provider computing device 160 can correspond to different entities. For example, the data processing system 105 (and components such as the direct action API 135) can be part of a voice based assistant computer system designed to interface with end users of the client computing device 150 to provide audio responses to audio input signals. For example, the audio signal generator component 130 can create an audio response of “There is a taxi 5 minutes away, would you like to order it?” to the audio input signal of “OK, take me home”. The session handler component 140 can establish a communication session via the computer network 202 between the data processing system 105 and the client computing device 150 to provide this audio response. The audio response can cause the audio driver 153 of the client computing device 150 to cause the speaker 154 to output acoustic waves to render the audio response to the end user.

Rather than being part of the voice based assistant computer system, the service provider computing device 160 can be a computing device of the car share or taxi service entity. The data processing system 105, and not the service provider computing device 160, processes the input audio signals 182, 183 to generate the pooled data structure 175. Thus, in this example the audio input signals 182, 183 correspond to actions for the service provider computing device 160, e.g., ordering a car from the car share service entity that controls the service provider computing device 160. The data processing system 105 can operate as an intermediary appliance or device that can hook, intercept, or otherwise receive the input audio signals that include requests for action by the service provider computing device 160. The data processing system 105 can batch or consolidate these requests into at least one pooled data structure 175 that is provided to the service provider computing device 160. In this example, rather than receiving input audio signals directly from the client computing devices 150 (e.g., bypassing the data processing system 105), the service provider computing device 160 instead receives a pooled data structure 175 (e.g., a batched transmission of consolidated action data structures) from the intermediary data processing system 105. In this example, requests from the client computing devices 150 for goods or services of the service provider computing device 160 are routed through the data processing system 105, where they are consolidated into a pooled data structure 175 that can be transmitted to the service provider computing device 160.

Responsive to receipt of the pooled data structure 175, the service provider computing device 160 can perform at least one operation defined or indicated by the pooled data structure 175. The operation can correspond to one or more of the respective actions of the action data structures of the first or second input audio signals 182, 183. For example, the operations can include reserving a car from a car share service. The service provider computing device 160 can provide responses to the client computing devices 150. For example, the service provider computing device 160 can provide a first response 184 to the first client computing device 150, and can provide a second response 185 to the second client computing device 150. The first and second responses 184, 185, can bypass the data processing system 105 during transmission from the service provider computing device 160 to the first and second client computing devices 150. The responses 184 can include text, image, or other data messages (including audio) that confirm a conversion action, such as a reservation for a car from a car service. The data processing system 105 can receive an indication of the conversion (or of the responses 184, 185) via the computer network 202 from the service provider computing device 160 or from the client computing devices 150. The data processing system 105 can also receive the responses 184, 185, from the service provider computing device(s) 160.

The service provider entity that corresponds to one or more service provider computing devices 160 can perform multiple operations to accomplish different actions indicated by the pooled data structure 175. For example, the service provider entity can provide grocery deliveries and operate a car share service for human transport. The pooled data structure 175 can indicate both of these actions, which can be accomplished by a single service provider entity that controls one or more service provider computing devices 160. The service provider computing devices 160 can also provide pooling policy data to the data processing system 105. For example, the direct action API 135 can receive from the service provider computing devices 160 pooling policy data. The pooling policy data can provide policy guidelines used by the pooling component 120 to generate the pooled data structure 175. The pooling policy data can be stored in the data repository 145 (e.g., as policies 147). The pooling policy data can indicate a format of the pooled data structure, template information (e.g., template 149) or information size data, or about when, how, how frequently, or what information should be included in the pooled data structure. The pooling component 120 can create the pooled data structure 175 in compliance with the pooling policy data.

In some examples, the responses 184, 185 include the same substantive response transmitted separately to both the first and second client computing devices 150. For example, the service provider computing device 160 can consolidate the first and second actions, indicated by respective action data structures in the pooled data structure 175 and can provide a single car the arrives in sequence at pickup locations associated with the first and second client computing devices 150.

The responses 184, 185 need not be pooled. The responses 184, 185 can be different from each other, or customized responses to the first action data structure 180 or the second action data structure 181 (or the first and second parameters) of the pooled data structure 175. For example, the service provider computing devices 160 can provide the response 184 with information about a first car share reservation for the first client computing device 150, and can provide the response 185 with information about a different, second car share reservation for the second client computing device 150.

The pooling parameter created by the pooling component 120 and used to generate the pooled data structure 175 can also include temporal, destination, or location data. For example, the pooling parameter can indicate a plurality of action data structures that each correspond to requests for services from a single entity associated with the service provider computing device (e.g., destination information), such as reservation requests for a particular restaurant, orders for a good manufactured by the entity, or car share reservation requests from a car share service. The pooling parameter can also indicate a number of action data structures made within a defined time period, such as within a 2 minute interval each requesting a car service from the same car share entity. The pooling parameter can include location information, such as location information identifying a defined geographical area (e.g., a city block or neighborhood) from which a plurality of people provide input audio signals requesting a service from the same entity associated with the service provider computing device 160. From the pooling parameter, the pooling component 120 can generate the pooled data structure 175 and provide it to the service provider computing device 160, which can perform operations responsive to the pooled data structure, and provide associated responses 184, 185, to the client computing devices 150.

The pooled data structure 175 can include only operations for a single entity, which is a different entity than the entity associated with the data processing system 105. For example, the data processing system 105 (or component such as the pooling component 120) can provide a first pooled data structure to one or more first service provider computing devices 160 controlled by a first entity, and can generate and provide a second pooled data structure to one or more second service provider computing devices 160 that are controlled by a different, second entity unrelated to the first entity. For example, the first pooled data structure can relate to consolidated requests to buy tickets for a local sporting event from a ticket broker company, and the second pooled data structure can relate to requests to make travel reservations for an overseas tropical beach vacation from a travel agent company.

The content selector component 125 can obtain indications of at least one action of the action data structures of the pooled action data structure 175. From the information received by the content selector component 125, e.g., an indication of an action, the content selector component 125 can identify at least one content item. The content item can be responsive or related to the third action. For example, the content item can include an audio message offering services of a car share company, responsive to the third action that indicates a transportation need. The content selector component 125 can query the data repository 145 to select or otherwise identify the content item, e.g., from the content data 148. The content selector component 125 can also select the content item from the content provider computing device 155. For example, responsive to a query received from the data processing system 105, the content provider computing device 155 can provide a content item to the data processing system 105 (or component thereof) for eventual output by the client computing device 150. The content item can relate to a service provider associated with the action data structure, e.g., an identified car share service, or another service such as a competitor or ancillary service.

The audio signal generator component 130 can generate or otherwise obtain an output signal that includes the content item. For example, the data processing system 105 can execute the audio signal generator component to generate or create an output signal corresponding to the content item. The interface 115 of the data processing system 105 can provide transmit one or more data packets that include the output signal via the computer network 202 to the client computing device 150. The interface 115 can be designed, configured, constructed, or operational to receive and transmit information using, for example, data packets. The interface 115 can receive and transmit information using one or more protocols, such as a network protocol. The interface 115 can include a hardware interface, software interface, wired interface, or wireless interface. The interface 115 can facilitate translating or formatting data from one format to another format. For example, the interface 115 can include an application programming interface that includes definitions for communicating between various components, such as software components of the system 100.

The data processing system 105 can provide the output signal (e.g., corresponding to the content item or responsive to the input audio signal), from the data repository 145 or from the audio signal generator component 130 to the client computing device 150. The data processing system 105 can also instruct, via data packet transmissions, the content provider computing device 155 or the service provider computing device 160 to provide the output signal to the client computing device 150. The output signal can be obtained, generated, transformed to or transmitted as one or more data packets (or other communications protocol) from the data processing system 105 (or other computing device) to the client computing device 150.

The content selector component 125 can select the content item as part of a real-time content selection process. For example, the content item can be provided to the client computing device 150 as audio output in a conversational manner in direct response to the input audio signal. The real-time content selection process to identify the content item and provide the content item to the client computing device 150 can occur within one minute or less from the time of the input audio signal and be considered real-time.

The output signal that corresponds to the content item, for example obtained or generated by the audio signal generator component 130 transmitted via the interface 115 and the computer network 202 to the client computing device 150, can cause the client computing device 150 to execute the audio driver 153 to drive the speaker 154 to generate an acoustic wave corresponding to the output signal. The acoustic wave can include words of or corresponding to the content item for the third action. The acoustic wave can be output from the client computing device 150, e.g., as an acoustic wave that include the audio output of “Your taxi is confirmed” or “While you are waiting for your taxi, there is a coffee shop around the corner”.

The data processing system 105 can prevent or delay transmission of the pooled data structure to the service provider computing device 160. For example, the interface 115 or a script executing via the direct action API 135 or the pooling component 120 can prevent transmission of data packets that include the pooled data structure until a triggering event. The triggering event can include expiration of a pre-determined time period, from less than one minute to a period of days. The triggering event can also be based on available bandwidth, processing, or memory. For example, the service provider computing device 160 can prompt or query the data processing system for the pooled data structure, which the data processing system 105 transmits in response to the prompt.

The data processing system 105 can also delay transmission of the pooled data structure to optimize processing utilization. For example, the data processing system 105 can delay content item transmission until an off-peak or non-peak period of data center usage, which results in more efficient utilization of the data center by reducing peak bandwidth usage, heat output or cooling requirements. The data processing system 105 can also initiate a conversion or other activity associated with the content item, such as ordering a car service, based on data center utilization rates or bandwidth metrics or requirements of the network 202 or of a data center that includes the data processing system 105. This can reduce network traffic, load requirements, and save processing and electrical power.

The data processing system 105 can receive a response to a content item such as an offer for a ride share service that states “would you like a ride home from the movie theater?” The response can include an input audio signal, e.g., “yes please” that was entered into the client computing device 150 by the end user and received by the data processing system 105. Based on this response, the direct action API 135 can communicate with the service provider computing device 160 (that can be associated with the content item, such as a car share company) to order a taxi or ride share vehicle for the location of the movie theater at the time the movie ends. The data processing system 105 can obtain this location or time information as part of the data packet (or other protocol) based data message communication with the client computing device 150, from the data repository 145, or from other sources such as the service provider computing device 160 or the content provider computing device 155. Confirmation of this order (or other conversion) can be provided as an audio communication from the data processing system 105 to the client computing device 150 in the form of an output signal from the data processing system 105 that drives the client computing device 150 to render audio output such as, “great, you will have a car waiting for you at 11 pm outside the theater.” The data processing system 105, via the direct action API 135, can communicate with the service provider computing device 160 to confirm the order for the car.

The data processing system 105 can obtain the response (e.g., “yes please”) to the content item (“would you like a ride home from the movie theater?”) and can route a packet based data message to the service provider NPL component 161 (or other component of the service provider computing device). This packet based data message can cause the service provider computing device 160 to affect a conversion, e.g., to make a car pick up reservation outside the movie theater. The data processing system 105 can obtain a notification of the conversion, e.g., from the service provider computing device 160, the content provider computing device 155, or the client computing device 150.

Based on a response to a content item for a subsequent action in the thread, such as the response “yes please” to the content item “would you like a ride home from the movie theater”, or based upon the action data structures including the pooled data structure that can directly indicate a request for a good or service, the data processing system 105 can initiate a conversion or action. For example, processors of the data processing system 105 can invoke the direct action API 135 to execute scripts that order a car from a car share service. The direct action API 135 can obtain content data 148 (or parameters 146 or policies 147) from the data repository 145, as well as data received with end user consent from the client computing device 150 to determine location, time, user accounts, logistical or other information in order to reserve a car from the car share service. Using the direct action API 135, the data processing system 105 can also communicate with the service provider computing device 160 to complete the conversion by in this example making the car share pick up reservation. The direct action API 135 can initiate the conversion or activity to accomplish an action associated with the pooled data structure (e.g., an action defined by one or more parameters of an action data structure indicated by the pooled data structure).

In some implementations, the above described conversational loop illustrated in FIG. 1C can begin with a communication between the service provider device 160 and the data processing system 105 rather than the communications between the client computing devices 150 and the data processing system 105. For example, the service provider device 160 can have excess inventory, open reservations, open availability, or, more generally, open slots that a customer could fill. The service provider device 160 can transmit an indication of the open slot to the data processing system 105. Based on receiving the indication, the data processing system 105 can generate a pooled data structure, as described above, that is then transmitted back to the service provider device 160, which can process the pooled data structure and transmit the responses to the first and second client computing devices 150.

FIG. 2 illustrates a system 100 which includes various components. For example, in the customer endpoints section there are a variety of potential endpoints which may communicate with a network 202 which includes security and DRM services. For example, television home entertainment systems 150F, a customer phone 150E, a handheld PDA 150D, a portable phone 150C, a home computer 150B or a laptop computer 150A (or generally referred to a as a client device 150 or client computing device 150) may all communicate with a network 202. Similarly, feature 216 illustrates the destination in clicks which may include business directories such as Google or Yellow Pages. The user's interaction with these various web pages may illustrate how a browser or a portal may be used to track customer interest in products much like Yahoo and Google do today. There may be content which may be received through websites such as Netflix which can identify movies you have rated or seen 218 or music you have listened to 220. The data associated with this information is also available in the network 202. By various network devices being registered with an IMS system, the system may use the customer ID from an IPTV or other device and may know what the customer is watching. Specific times or during a commercial, the system can direct specific customer content to them. In addition, if the customer uses a cell phone 150 as a channel changer or content controller in, for example, a home entertainment system 150F, then the system may know via the IMS system what this specific person is watching. For example, two siblings may each have a cell phone that can be used to control the T.V. We know the person and location of the mobile user as well as the programming they may be watching. The system will also know the location of a Yellow Page service provider 216 and many details about their business. By combining all this information and performing network analytics, the present system enables service providers to provide focused content delivery to customers who both show an interest and may either be living or traveling through an area.

Also, shown in FIG. 2 are the customer relationship management node 224 and next generation CTI analytics 222 which organize this information together to provide the targeted content delivery. FIG. 3 illustrates further details about creating a user profile. Data is stored in a customer profile database 326, which can be captured from a portal such as a web browser 306 or correlated to a set top box portal 324 and or the mobile device portal 150. The customer profile may also provide granulated links of information. For example, the system can show what products the user purchased but not show all of the websites they visited in route to purchasing a certain product. The user is in control and is willing to give up certain private information for their benefit, but the system supports the ability to be in control of how much information is processed. An entity or system that provides the functionality herein may or may not ask for permission or interaction from the user in order to provide the particular granulated level of information with regards to a user's habits or physical movement in terms of providing information to a customer profile and to service providers for determining what content items to push to the customer. Thus, in one aspect, an entity may seek permission from the customer in terms of the privacy related data that it receives and in another aspect the entity may not ask for such permission.

A household of people of course would preferably be known in the portal associated with the web browser 306 associated with a common computer in the home and/or the set top box 324/322. The location and information about an individual is primarily known via a mobile device portal associated with mobile device 150. Where the individual device 150 can be used as a remote control for a set top box portal 322/324, the system may also know who is watching a television program as well as information collected at the web portal 306 can be used to gain information on each exact individual as well. The system builds and continuously updates the profile database 326 such that the customer database knows the individual interest and present location and real-time behavior (such as being on the phone, watching TV, and where such information is stored in various databases 308, 318, 320).

For example, the web browser provides a portal 304 that updates information such as the sessions, the user ID, the history and the time. The World Wide Web 202 is also in the center of providing communication between these various elements. A portal 312 may be used to communicate information via a WAP 314 protocol (or other type protocol as would be known in the art) between mobile device 150 and a database 318 of user ID history time and location information. Database 320 may store information from a set top box portal 322 which may include customer ID, the channel or program watched, the history and the time and so forth. All of these various databases of information may also feed information to the customer database 326. The through a network such as system 100, such as is shown in FIG. 3, the system has the ability to capture and register customer behavior and location data in real-time via TV, mobile and broadband networks.

The system 100 shown in FIG. 4 illustrates an example mechanism for matching a customer with a business content item. Businesses deliver content through websites such as yellowpages.com 404. This may provide information on their industry, information on current services and suppliers, location and so forth. Database 406 may include such business service provider information such as their particular content delivery goals, digital component information with regards to national, local or location based content items, the actual content items which may be presented in various contexts such as a web browser 306 or a portable device 150 or through a set top box portal 322/324. A service provider profile filter database 410 is established which may include much of the same types of information essentially providing all the details about particular service providers. The service provider database may also contain customer profile filter information. For example, the service provider information may be less about the service provider per se and more of a filter for customer profile attributes that differentiate customers that will be more interested in a particular business or service provider. In this regard, the service provider profile can refer more to a filter criteria for types of customers, the types of demographics that they are interested in targeting information for and so forth. Data from the customer with regards to product interest, current behavior, historical online and/or physical activity and current location may also be stored in the database 406 which information may be broken down based on a particular customer and information from a browser 306, an IPTV on a portable device such as from a set top box portal 322 or data from mobile device 150. As is shown, the mobile device may communicate through a WAP 314 or other protocol, through a portal 312 to the world wide web or through a TP Gateway 310 to an IMS system. Similarly, the web browser 306 communicates through portal 304 to the network 202 and with the other various aspects of the network shown in FIG. 4. There also may be a communication from a store front 408 with the World Wide Web which may provide further information with regards to the particular service provider profile filter 410. Such data from the customer with regards to product interest, historical activity, current behavior and/or current location may be matched via a database 406 to an optimal business client. The information is derived from multiple devices (cell, PC, TV, etc.) that includes mobile devices to capture data on where a person is or their historical location information. An optimal business client may utilize information about various businesses (for example, various car dealers in the area) and the willingness of the business to pay for the service as well as the ideal location and interest of the customer. In this regard, when the system matches a chosen business with a particular user or customer, an offer can be made to the business customer to do several things.

First, the offer may include the offer to sell a mobile content item that is sent directly to the user that is a targeted customer based on the current location. For example, the location may relate to whether the customer mobile device is within 500 yards of the store and moving at a speed which indicates that they are walking or driving. If the speed is indicated at 60 miles an hour, then there may be an identification that the user is in a car and not likely to stop based on the direction they are going and how far away they are from the dealer. However, if the location information identified that they are traveling at 2 miles an hour and the likely location is along a side walk, then a content item may be sent to them. Content items may be sent to both the walker and the driver but at different rates because of the reduced likelihood that the driver will stop. Next, an offer may be made to sell an IPTV content item targeted directly to the customer based on interest in the product and frequency of that customer's mobile device having passed the store. Thus, if the system identifies that the customer has passed the service provider's relative location a certain amount of times, within a short period of time, then the system would send an IP content item to their set top box portal 322.

Another option may be to sell content across to web browser based on both home location, which is known data from a data modem and an IPTV, and a mobile location based upon tracking of the cell phone location relative to the service provider's location.

We note that customized commercials can be placed both on the IPTV 322 and a mobile device 150 (which of course equals any mobile device such as a PDA or a cell phone and so forth) which can receive a message with a content item or both. FIG. 5 illustrates another aspect of pushing a content item to the subscriber. For example, as has been noted above, the system can know or learn who is browsing a web site 306 via a portal 304 which identifies a location and perhaps a user and their habits which are communicated to the system 100. Using that information, the system can push local content items, coupons or maps to a user device 150 when a user enters a neighborhood. Thus, a web page is shown as including cars and details regarding sales on cars and so forth to device 150 which may be communicated to a device through a portal 312 and/or a TP Gateway 310 using a protocol such as WAP 314 protocol. Similarly, the system may also send direct content delivery programs to a television station or to an individual via a set top box portal 322 or watching on a TV 322. Also, shown as a web page which includes a representation of the content item.

A benefit of the approach disclosed herein is that the company can sell direct personalized content delivery to those who are in the particular location to potentially buy and have shown an interest or a potential need in the subject matter of the content item. In addition, the information is collected passively so active primary market research is not needed to find out how to reach a target audience. Analytics will instruct the service provider what content delivery will work best with which shows or media presentations and which could potentially do better than that by providing, during the content delivery segment, customized content items to that specific customer based on a particular location such as the home or the phone and their interest based on the analytics. Data regarding customer needs may also be drawn from sensing devices in appliances such as refrigerators, stoves, cars and so forth that communicate to the network. Information from sensing devices in various appliances may be pushed to a central location by the appliance itself or may be pulled via a request from a device external to the appliance. Sensing devices may transmit information continuously or periodically, such as every 24 hours or every 30 days. Therefore, when the engine check light comes on, that data may be sent to the network which a local repair shop may have an opening and want to offer a checkup.

As another example, assume that Julie has searched online for a prom dress. The system knows that her parents have given her a cell phone and that she watches a particular show such as The Gilmore Girls because she uses the cell phone as the remote control on her IPTV. Even if Julie did not use the cell phone as a remote, the system can figure out if she was the one watching based on probabilities of what she is likely to watch and that she is likely the only person in the house to watch The Gilmore Girls. The local dress shop, a Yellow Pages service provider or a company that has registered for content items, can send directed commercials during the commercial break session to Julie and a coupon to her cell phone every time she gets within 500 yards of the shop. Note that a company managing this entire process would need to use the IP network to send individuals their personal commercials during the commercial break time slot rather than transmitting a general commercial like standard cable company content items.

Similarly, Julie's father, who has been web surfing for cars, may get a particular Toyota commercial customized to the models he's been looking at and a sales person can send him a card with a coupon every time he drives by the dealership.

Accordingly, one of the reasons why IPTV provides improvements for service providers over cable TV is the use of the customer knowledge which is in real-time and can provide a complete data sample for a customer base. The system can track who is watching programming, for how long and so forth. Both geographic and demographic details may be provided. Thus, while cable customizes content delivery to a particular channel in a location area based on demographics, IPTV provides the ability to push content delivery campaign to a particular set top box if desired. Thus, the present solution enables a location-based, intelligent content delivery approach for businesses. This finally provides a way to target and reach out to the customer as the customer approaches the store front. Available modes of communication include a TV, personal computer, voice communication, instant messaging, short message servicing (SMS), emailing and so forth. Thus, the customer's real-time behavior and availability which includes possibly what they are searching, their search history, what time their devices were connected to the system such as a TV and a cell phone, what the customer is watching, who are the customers and the location of the customers may be matched with historical and data analytics to the business.

In yet another example, a business knows their desired customers, their location history, their content distribution history, their business customers and public data related to a customer as well as their content delivery and business directory information associated with the business customer and content delivery data. Accordingly, the business can make selections and determinations based on organized parameters for identifying demographics, availability and location, and a current communications mode to push the improved targeted content items to a user. As an example, assume that the user has been surfing the web for bedroom furniture, that information would end up in the customer profile data so the next time the user drives to the mall, the Yellow Pages database may have a number of different service providers but instead of picking a car dealer the system may determine you are interested in furniture and will pick the RoomStore® because of both my location and the user's previous searching on the web indicates such an interest. The system will then send a content item for a bedroom set that is good for two hours and $200 off. One aspect of the solution, the system can send an alert to the bedroom set store giving them the details of the customer, their level of interest and request whether the RoomStore wants to send them an add now. There may be an option at this point to negotiate a price in which the store determines what price they would offer a product or service or the system may negotiate a price with the user over their cell phone. Also, based on the history of the customer, the system may prioritize what is the most likely interest or product that they would likely buy first. Thus, if the user had casually browsed at a Ford® dealership on the web but then included very intense browsing of furniture web sites then the system may determine that there is a very high value furniture content item that could be sent but if they turn that down, then the system may return to the next most likely content item which would be for a Ford dealership. In this regard, the system includes a list of potential service providers that are mapped to what is most likely and appropriate for the customer. With regards to the business profiles and the particular business service providers filter, there are various kinds of parameters that may be dynamically adjustable. For example, a particular company's interest in sending a particular ad to somebody may not be static. There may be running specials that change parameters in their profile that may make them want to pay more for the ad now because of what is going on in their business. Or perhaps their content delivery budget may be higher one month from the next. In this regard, their business filter profile may be dynamically adjusted based on day-to-day, week-to-week or month-to-month aspects of the business.

Therefore, the data associated with a customer that is walking by a business may change day to day. Presenting a content item to that user may occur on that day whereas the next day the business profile may change because particular changes occurred in the business. The system may also be automatically set up based on what parameters are desired for negotiating content delivery so that a representative of the business may not physically respond to an inquiry to a content item. In other words, there can be a software program that already indicates whether the business will want to respond and pay for a particular customized content item. For example, suppose that data associated with the business may be related to inventory. Thus, if a user has been searching the internet for bunk beds and then walks by the RoomStore, if the database of inventory for the RoomStore indicates that they are out of bunk beds then the system would decline a content item to the user based on the availability of the product, but could offer the customer a $200 off coupon valid starting the day of the next scheduled shipment of appropriate bunk beds at the RoomStore. Thus, the customer profile can be mapped to their inventory which enables either content items to be turned down or additional content item to be pushed for a particular piece of inventory. For example, if there is an oversupply of bunk beds, then there may be content items pushed for individuals both looking for bunk beds as well as children's beds.

In another example, assume that a user is a subscriber to the New York Times® online and that they have also been browsing and have a specific interest in certain products such as furniture. Instead of on the cell phone or on the TV set the system could also do content item placement within a particular website, such as the New York Times online. In this regard, the system may also do the negotiation with a particular website to determine whether they want to offer that as a service and have a dual cookie, such that the system can match the two of them up and give the New York Times a particular portion of the content delivery revenue.

In this regard, a cookie is stored in the network versus on the personal computer such that the New York Times is a service provider who agrees on doing this type of content delivery for its readership. As long as the user is logged in and has a cookie in the network, that browser can present to the user certain kinds of content items. While cookies are clearly already used, what they fail to do is not provide particular content item. If the cookie according to the present solution is used, it can basically track where the user has been browsing certain and can query a particular website such as the New York Times online to match the New York Times with content delivery space and a particular furniture store or other business. In one aspect, a system may refer to a service provider that offers a service that embodies this solution and is trusted to act on behalf of both the customer and business in ways that they consent to and mutually benefit from. The service provider may use explicit or implicit information that customer or business allows but the information is protected, used only on their behalf, according to provided policies as a service provider may mediate. The system can become a match maker between the service provider and customer because of the knowledge about the interest of the user and the desire of the New York Times to provide target content delivery online for their users.

In the embodiment of the system acting as a service provider or a mediator, one example method includes establishing a policy with regards to a particular customer, a business and/or a combination of both entities that relates to the amount and type of information a customer is willing to share in order to receive content items according from a service provider. The method further includes the service provider in the process of assisting and mediating between the customer and the service provider, enforcing that policy with regards to how much information is received from the customer and their habits and communicated through the service provider. In this regard, one aspect may include wherein the service provider receives a large amount of information that may include click web surfing habits, location-based information, shopping habits and other private information of the user. In the process of enforcing a policy with a level of privacy that the customer desires for that information, the service provider can filter out, delete or otherwise eliminate none or some of that information in compliance with the policy such that the communication with the service provider only includes that information that is in compliance with the established policy.

In another example, further characteristics of products may be gleaned from customer's internet searching. For example, the system may know quite a bit of information about what type of furniture a user's looking for. For example, they may never click on furniture that is white or light oak but only dark wood products. Thus, this kind of information may further provide valuable details regarding the inventory of a business. For example, if the furniture store has a floor model that is a cherry wood bedroom set of bunk beds, can engage in a direct dialog with a user to negotiate a sell price as the user drives or walks by. Thus, particular details regarding user interest may be used in an enhanced way to match with business interest inventory and so forth. In this regard, the system may provide on a cell phone a picture of the floor model of the furniture and ask the user if they are willing to buy it for a particular price of say $599. The system may enable the user to engage in a dialog in which they will offer $499 and basically engage in an automated personalized negotiation for the sale of the products. Of course, ancillary information may be provided such as details regarding condition of the product whether it is new, whether there is a warranty, delivery options, tax and so forth.

An aspect of the present solution enables a networking company to match up service providers with customers through different devices at different locations. An example of this strategy is the 3-screen strategy employed by AT&T. This is able to help customers through the web, the television and the cell phone and be able to link the three together. This is a next generation approach to content delivery to a user. As has been noted above, in one aspect of this 3-screen approach, a customer can use their cell phone as a remote control. The advantage of that is that the cell phone with its communication link to a network may provide information regarding what television stations are being watched and does not have to guess by the fact that this particular station, such as ESPN®, and it will know which user at home is likely watching the particular station. So, one particular user might get a Ford commercial while another user may get a Volvo® commercial. A daughter may receive a totally different commercial altogether from a son. The same person may even receive different commercials depending on the time of day, month, or year, if demand for a product is cyclical. If different people use their different cell phones for controlling the television, although several people may be watching the same station, the system may know who is the controlling the station selection. In other words, the father may be watching ESPN and get a particular commercial because the father's cell phone is being used to change stations, whereas if the son is watching the same television program the next night, he may get a completely different set of commercials because of the fact that his cell phone is the one that is being used to change stations.

By linking this information with one of the Yellow Page customers, as the father or the son drives by a Ford dealership, they may get a coupon for $500 if he stops by the next day. Because the Yellow Page content item information allows a networking company to know and to target that information in the Yellow Pages, they know that they are a potential service provider for a particular business. What they can then do with this potential service provider is tell the service provider in advance what customers are in what area and use that as a sales tool to help sign them up for these commercials. FIG. 6 illustrates a method embodiment of the solution. As is shown in this figure, the method includes storing first data associated with online and physical activity of a plurality of customers (602), storing second data associated with a current status with plurality of service providers (604), matching a customer with a service provider based on the analysis of the first data and the second data (606) and delivering a content item to a device associated with the matched customers online and/or physical activity (608). As has been noted above, there are additional features associated with the method embodiment of the solution. For example, the online activity may be one of web browsing, television watching or mobile device activity. The customer's physical activity may be derived from multiple devices and through multiple sensors such as GPS, temperature sensors, fingerprint sensors, and so forth. The physical activity may be obtained via multiple devices and multiple sensors. The status of plurality of service providers may comprise at least one of the availability of special other available inventory, budget, time of day, season, and so forth. For example, there may be information associated with the knowledge that the user of a cell phone or of a person browsing the web observes specific holidays may be known such that content items may be presented to the user. Furthermore, clearly such information may be of value to particular businesses that may cater to particular cultures or particular religions.

The analysis of the data may also include assigning a value to a portion of the first data that is associated with probable interest of a customer in a particular product or service based on their activities. For example, if a user surfs the web only casually for a vehicle then a low probability may be assigned to that customer profile such that relatively speaking an auto dealership that they may be walking near may decline to deliver content to them inasmuch as they do not feel the cost for that content item may be realized. Delivery of the content item to the matched customer's device may further include engaging in a two way dialog with a customer on a sale of the product or service in the content item. If the customer is located within a certain distance of a service provider based on location information of the device the method may include notifying the service provider an opportunity to deliver a content item to the local customer and prior to delivering the content item, receiving authorization from the service provider either manually or through an automatic algorithm to deliver the content item to the device of the local customer. The price for the authorized content item may also be negotiated based on the analysis of the first data. For example, if the first data indicates a low probability of the user actually buying product inasmuch as it was only based on a casual surfing of the internet, then the cost of the content item may be low. Another aspect, if the user has been surfing the web constantly for a long time and has looked at numerous dark wood bunk beds, then the cost for a content item of a dark wood bunk bed that may be a floor model on sale may be relatively high for a furniture store. Thus, there may be a number of parameters associated with the first data that may increase its value in terms of being used as a basis for sending a targeted content item to a customer. For example, as has been noted above, the specificity of information associated with the customer profile (i.e., the color of wood that the customer desires versus more general information that the user is interested in bedroom furniture), the intensity of the search of the customer profile associated with a particular product or service and so forth. Accordingly, the price for the content item may be based upon the value assigned to the portion of the first data.

Additionally, if a customer's purchasing habits indicate a preference for the lowest price items, that preference could be taken into account when content delivery a custom price to that individual. If a customer habitually purchases items of one brand, like GE® or Phillips®, then the content item may accentuate brands that are familiar to the customer. If a customer prefers luxury items at full price instead of bargain-basement priced items, the content item could include subject matter relevant luxury items without worrying about providing a special discount or other promotion.

FIG. 7 illustrates a flow diagram of an example method 700 for adjusting a frequency of data transmission. The method 700 can include receiving an indication of an unfulfilled slot from a service provider computing device (ACT 702). The method 700 can include receiving a characteristic of each of a plurality of candidate devices (ACT 704). The method 700 can include selecting a digital component associated with the service provider (ACT 706). The method 700 can include identifying a first device and a second device from the plurality of candidate devices (ACT 708). The method 700 can include transmitting the digital component to the first device at a first rate and transmitting the digital component to the second device at the second rate (ACT 710).

The method 700 can include receiving an indication of an unfulfilled slot from a service provider computing device (ACT 702). The server that receives the indication can be the data processing system. The indication can be received by a communication interface of the data processing system. The indication can be received with a trigger keyword. The trigger keyword can be associated with the unfulfilled slot from the service provider. For example, the trigger keyword can be used by the data processing system to determine which action should be used or what information is needed to fulfill the slot. The unfulfilled slot can indicate to the data processing system surplus inventory, available (or open) appointments, available reservations, or other types of inventory that a business associated with the service provider wishes to fill. In some implementations, the unfulfilled slot can expire at a predetermined time. For example, if the unfulfilled slot is associated with an open 7 PM restaurant reservation, the slot can expire at 7 PM. The service provider may want to fill the slot prior to the expiration of the slot. The service provider can transmit the indication to the data processing system in a request. The request can be similar to the requests described above from the client computing devices to the data processing system that cause the direct action API to generate action data structures. The request can include a trigger keyword. The direct action API can use the trigger keyword in the generation of the action data structure. For example, the trigger keyword can indicate to the data processing system what type of action data structure the data processing system should generate. For example, the trigger keyword can indicate to the data processing system that the service provider is looking for client devices associated with users that could possible attend or use the service associated with the unfulfilled slot.

The method 700 can include receiving a characteristic of each of a plurality of candidate devices (ACT 704). The characteristic can be based on physical activity information of the candidate devices. The physical activity information can be detected by a sensor of the respective candidate devices. The characteristic can be one of a physical location, a speed associated with the respective plurality of candidate devices, a battery status, a processor utilization, a memory utilization, an interface parameter, a device type, existence of installed apps or programs, or the presence of specific sensors or capabilities (e.g., the ability to display an image or play an audio file), or a bandwidth utilization. The characteristic can also include the preferences, social actions, or activities of users associated with the candidate devices.

The method 700 can include selecting a digital component associated with the service provider (ACT 706). The digital component can be a content item, action, or other type of data. A digital component can include a content item. In some implementations, a content item can include a digital component. The digital component can be selected by the data processing system or by the service provider computing device. The digital component can be selected based on the request or trigger keywords received from the service provider. For example, the digital component can be selected by the direction action API and can be an action selected to satisfy the request.

The method 700 can include identifying a first device and a second device from the plurality of candidate devices (ACT 708). In some implementations, the data processing system can identify more than two devices from the plurality of candidate devices. The method 700 can also include identifying a first transmission rate and a second transmission rate. The transmission rates can be based on the characteristics of the candidate devices or the respective first device and second device. The first rate and the second rate can be different. The rate can correspond to a frequency indicating when or how often the digital component should be transmitted to a device. For example, the data processing system can select a low transmission rate for a candidate device that has low remaining battery power or that has bandwidth utilization rate above a threshold. The plurality of candidate devices may be devices that are associated with user that are able to consume or otherwise use the service associated with the unfulfilled slot. For example, if the unfulfilled slot corresponds to an open reservation at a local Italian restaurant that expires in 20 minutes. The data processing system can select as candidate devices, the devices that are located within a 20 minute travel time of the restaurant. The data processing system can select candidate devices that have users that have expressed interest in Italian food by, for example, previously conducting searches for Italian recipes or restaurants. In some implementations, the selected for and second device can be associated with users that are most likely to respond to an offer to consumer or use the service associated with the unfulfilled slot.

The selection can be based on a distance from the candidate device to a location associated with the service provider. For example, the first device can be the candidate device that is located closest to the restaurant that has the open reservation. In some implementations, the selection can be made based on a status associated with the candidate devices (or other degree of relationship between a user of the client device and the service provider). For example, the service provider may offer loyalty points when shopping in their retail locations. In this example, the first device can be candidate device whose user has accumulated the most loyalty points. In some implementations, the data processing system can rank the plurality of candidate devices based on the characteristics of the plurality of candidate devices. The first and second device can be identified based on the ranking of the candidate devices. For example, the first and second device can be the candidate devices with the best network utilization or most remaining battery life. In some implementations, the first device is selected from the candidate devices and the second device is a device that is associated with the same account as the first device. For example, the first device can be the user's smart phone. The second device can be the user's smart assistant device.

The method 700 can include calculating a pooling parameter for the first and the second device. The pooling parameter can indicate a level of overlap between the first device and the second device. For example, the pooling parameter can indicate to the service provider whether the first and the second devices are both associated with the same user account. The pooling parameter can also indicate differences or similarities between the first and the second devices. For example, the pooling parameter can indicate which of the first and the second device is closer to a location associated with the service provider. The pooling parameter can be determined based on a heuristic technique applied to the characteristic of the first device and the second device. In some implementations, a pooling parameter is calculated for the different pairs of devices in the plurality of candidate devices. The first and second device can be selected from the plurality of candidate devices and the pair with the best (e.g., highest pooling parameter).

The method 700 can include transmitting the digital component to the first device at a first rate and transmitting the digital component to the second device at the second rate (ACT 710). The first and the second rates can be different. In some implementations, once the first and the second devices are selected, the data processing system can generate, by the pooling component of the data processing system, a pooled data structure for the first and second devices. The pooled data structure can include a first parameter corresponding to the first device and a second parameter corresponding to the second device. The data processing system can transmit the pooled data structure to the service provider computing device such that the service provider computing device performs an operation defined by the pooled data structure upon receipt of the pooled data structure. The service provider computing device can transmit the computing device to the first and second device responsive to receiving the pooled data structure from the data processing system.

In some implementations, the data processing system can generate first and second action data structures based on the trigger keyword from the service provider computing device and characteristics associate with the first and second device. The first action data structure can be generated for the first device as if the data processing system received the request and trigger keywords from the first device. For example, the trigger keyword could be “order” and the request could be for a “taxi.” The first action data structure could be generated as if the first device transmitted the input audio signal to the data processing system of “Ok, order me a taxi.” The first action data structure could include the trigger keyword and parameters or characteristics of the first device. In this example, the parameter could be the location of the first device.

The data processing system can combine the action data structures into a pooled data structure. The pooled data structure can include the first and second action data structures or can be based on the first and second action data structures. The pooled data structure can be transmitted from the data processing system to the service provider computing device. Once the pooled data structure is received by the service provider computing device, the service provider computing device can generate responses that are transmitted to the first and second devices. The responses can be generated in response to the pooled data structure. Transmission of the responses to the first and second devices can bypass the data processing system. In other implementations, the responses can be transmitted to the first and second devices via the data processing system. The transmission to the first and the second devices can include the selected digital component. The responses can include text, image, or other data messages (including audio) that confirm a conversion action, such as a reservation for a car from a car service.

The conversation session can include asynchronous communications separated from one another by a period of minutes, hours, or days, for example. The conversation or communication session can last for a time period from receipt of the first input audio signal until an estimated or known conclusion of a final action related to the first input audio signal, or receipt by the data processing system of an indication of a termination or expiration of the conversation. For example, the data processing system can determine that a conversation related to a weekend beach trip begins at the time or receipt of the input audio signal and expires or terminates at the end of the weekend, e.g., Sunday night or Monday morning. The data processing system that provides action data structures or content items for rendering by one or more interfaces of the client computing device or of another client computing device during the active time period of the conversation (e.g., from receipt of the input audio signal until a determined expiration time) can be considered to be operating in real-time. In this example, the content selection processes and rendering of the content items and action data structures occurs in real time.

After receiving the response, the first and second device can transmit responses to the response to the data processing system and/or the service provider computing device. The response from the first and second devices can be an input audio signal. The input audio signal can be recorded with a microphone located at or on the first and second device. The input audio signal can be packetized and transmitted to the data processing system or service provider computing device. The data processing system or the service provider computing device can include a natural language processor component. The natural language processor component can parse the input audio signal to determine a response to the digital component (e.g., the response from the service provider computing device). Based on the response from the first or second device, the data processing system can initiate a conversation session between the service provider computing device and the first device or the second device. In some implementations, the conversation session can be generated prior to the transmission of the digital component to the first and second devices, and the digital component can be transmitted to the first and the second devices via the conversation session.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of an example computer system 800. The computer system or computing device 800 can include or be used to implement the system 100, or its components such as the data processing system 105. The computing system 800 includes a bus 805 or other communication component for communicating information and a processor 810 or processing circuit coupled to the bus 805 for processing information. The computing system 800 can also include one or more processors 810 or processing circuits coupled to the bus for processing information. The computing system 800 also includes main memory 815, such as a random access memory (RAM) or other dynamic storage device, coupled to the bus 805 for storing information, and instructions to be executed by the processor 810. The main memory 815 can be or include the data repository 145. The main memory 815 can also be used for storing position information, temporary variables, or other intermediate information during execution of instructions by the processor 810. The computing system 800 may further include a read only memory (ROM) 520 or other static storage device coupled to the bus 805 for storing static information and instructions for the processor 810. A storage device 825, such as a solid state device, magnetic disk or optical disk, can be coupled to the bus 805 to persistently store information and instructions. The storage device 825 can include or be part of the data repository 145.

The computing system 800 may be coupled via the bus 805 to a display 835, such as a liquid crystal display, or active matrix display, for displaying information to a user. An input device 830, such as a keyboard including alphanumeric and other keys, may be coupled to the bus 805 for communicating information and command selections to the processor 810. The input device 830 can include a touch screen display 835. The input device 830 can also include a cursor control, such as a mouse, a trackball, or cursor direction keys, for communicating direction information and command selections to the processor 810 and for controlling cursor movement on the display 835. The display 835 can be part of the data processing system 105, the client computing device 150 or other component of FIG. 1A, for example.

The processes, systems and methods described herein can be implemented by the computing system 800 in response to the processor 810 executing an arrangement of instructions contained in main memory 815. Such instructions can be read into main memory 815 from another computer-readable medium, such as the storage device 825. Execution of the arrangement of instructions contained in main memory 815 causes the computing system 800 to perform the illustrative processes described herein. One or more processors in a multi-processing arrangement may also be employed to execute the instructions contained in main memory 815. Hard-wired circuitry can be used in place of or in combination with software instructions together with the systems and methods described herein. Systems and methods described herein are not limited to any specific combination of hardware circuitry and software.

To enable user interaction with the computing device 800, an input device 830 represents any number of input mechanisms, such as a microphone for speech, a touch-sensitive screen for gesture or graphical input, keyboard, mouse, motion input, speech and so forth. The device output can also be one or more of a number of output mechanisms known to those of skill in the art. In some instances, multimodal systems enable a user to provide multiple types of input to communicate with the computing device 800. The communications interface generally governs and manages the user input and system output. There is no restriction on the solution operating on any particular hardware arrangement and therefore the basic features here may easily be substituted for improved hardware or firmware arrangements as they are developed.

For clarity of explanation, the illustrative system embodiment is presented as comprising individual modules functional blocks (including functional blocks labeled as a “processor”). The functions these blocks represent may be provided through the use of either shared or dedicated hardware, including, but not limited to, hardware capable of executing software. For example, the functions of one or more processors presented in FIG. 8 may be provided by a single shared processor or multiple processors. (Use of the term “processor” should not be construed to refer exclusively to hardware capable of executing software.) Illustrative embodiments may comprise microprocessor and/or digital signal processor (DSP) hardware, read-only memory (ROM) for storing software performing the operations discussed below, and random access memory (RAM) for storing results. Very large scale integration (VLSI) hardware embodiments, as well as custom VLSI circuitry in combination with a general purpose DSP circuit, may also be provided. But, it is understood that a system, device or apparatus embodiment, which may include various modules or blocks, is not software per se but requires each module or block to encompass software controlling one or more hardware components such as a CPU and/or a display.

Although an example computing system has been described in FIG. 8, the subject matter including the operations described in this specification can be implemented in other types of digital electronic circuitry, or in computer software, firmware, or hardware, including the structures disclosed in this specification and their structural equivalents, or in combinations of one or more of them.

For situations in which the systems discussed herein collect personal information about users, or may make use of personal information, the users may be provided with an opportunity to control whether programs or features that may collect personal information (e.g., information about a user's social network, social actions or activities, a user's preferences, or a user's location), or to control whether or how to receive content from a content server or other data processing system that may be more relevant to the user. In addition, certain data may be anonymized in one or more ways before it is stored or used, so that personally identifiable information is removed when generating parameters. For example, a user's identity may be anonymized so that no personally identifiable information can be determined for the user, or a user's geographic location may be generalized where location information is obtained (such as to a city, postal code, or state level), so that a particular location of a user cannot be determined. Thus, the user may have control over how information is collected about him or her and used by the content server.

The subject matter and the operations described in this specification can be implemented in digital electronic circuitry, or in computer software, firmware, or hardware, including the structures disclosed in this specification and their structural equivalents, or in combinations of one or more of them. The subject matter described in this specification can be implemented as one or more computer programs, e.g., one or more circuits of computer program instructions, encoded on one or more computer storage media for execution by, or to control the operation of, data processing apparatuses. Alternatively, or in addition, the program instructions can be encoded on an artificially generated propagated signal, e.g., a machine-generated electrical, optical, or electromagnetic signal that is generated to encode information for transmission to suitable receiver apparatus for execution by a data processing apparatus. A computer storage medium can be, or be included in, a computer-readable storage device, a computer-readable storage substrate, a random or serial access memory array or device, or a combination of one or more of them. While a computer storage medium is not a propagated signal, a computer storage medium can be a source or destination of computer program instructions encoded in an artificially generated propagated signal. The computer storage medium can also be, or be included in, one or more separate components or media (e.g., multiple CDs, disks, or other storage devices). The operations described in this specification can be implemented as operations performed by a data processing apparatus on data stored on one or more computer-readable storage devices or received from other sources.

The terms “data processing system” “computing device” “component” or “data processing apparatus” encompass various apparatuses, devices, and machines for processing data, including by way of example a programmable processor, a computer, a system on a chip, or multiple ones, or combinations of the foregoing. The apparatus can include special purpose logic circuitry, e.g., an FPGA (field programmable gate array) or an ASIC (application specific integrated circuit). The apparatus can also include, in addition to hardware, code that creates an execution environment for the computer program in question, e.g., code that constitutes processor firmware, a protocol stack, a database management system, an operating system, a cross-platform runtime environment, a virtual machine, or a combination of one or more of them. The apparatus and execution environment can realize various different computing model infrastructures, such as web services, distributed computing and grid computing infrastructures. The direct action API 135, content selector component 125, pooling component 120 or NLP component 110 and other data processing system 105 components can include or share one or more data processing apparatuses, systems, computing devices, or processors.

A computer program (also known as a program, software, software application, app, script, or code) can be written in any form of programming language, including compiled or interpreted languages, declarative or procedural languages, and can be deployed in any form, including as a stand-alone program or as a module, component, subroutine, object, or other unit suitable for use in a computing environment. A computer program can correspond to a file in a file system. A computer program can be stored in a portion of a file that holds other programs or data (e.g., one or more scripts stored in a markup language document), in a single file dedicated to the program in question, or in multiple coordinated files (e.g., files that store one or more modules, sub-programs, or portions of code). A computer program can be deployed to be executed on one computer or on multiple computers that are located at one site or distributed across multiple sites and interconnected by a communication network.

The processes and logic flows described in this specification can be performed by one or more programmable processors executing one or more computer programs (e.g., components of the data processing system 105) to perform actions by operating on input data and generating output. The processes and logic flows can also be performed by, and apparatuses can also be implemented as, special purpose logic circuitry, e.g., an FPGA (field programmable gate array) or an ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit). Devices suitable for storing computer program instructions and data include all forms of non-volatile memory, media and memory devices, including by way of example semiconductor memory devices, e.g., EPROM, EEPROM, and flash memory devices; magnetic disks, e.g., internal hard disks or removable disks; magneto optical disks; and CD ROM and DVD-ROM disks. The processor and the memory can be supplemented by, or incorporated in, special purpose logic circuitry.

The subject matter described herein can be implemented in a computing system that includes a back-end component, e.g., as a data server, or that includes a middleware component, e.g., an application server, or that includes a front-end component, e.g., a client computer having a graphical user interface or a web browser through which a user can interact with an implementation of the subject matter described in this specification, or a combination of one or more such back-end, middleware, or front-end components. The components of the system can be interconnected by any form or medium of digital data communication, e.g., a communication network. Examples of communication networks include a local area network (“LAN”) and a wide area network (“WAN”), an inter-network (e.g., the Internet), and peer-to-peer networks (e.g., ad hoc peer-to-peer networks).

The computing system such as system 100 can include clients and servers. A client and server are generally remote from each other and typically interact through a communication network (e.g., the network 202). The relationship of client and server arises by virtue of computer programs running on the respective computers and having a client-server relationship to each other. In some implementations, a server transmits data (e.g., data packets representing a content item) to a client computing device (e.g., for purposes of displaying data to and receiving user input from a user interacting with the client computing device). Data generated at the client computing device (e.g., a result of the user interaction) can be received from the client computing device at the server (e.g., received by the data processing system 105 from the computing device 150 or the content provider computing device 155 or the service provider computing device 160).

While operations are depicted in the drawings in a particular order, such operations are not required to be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, and all illustrated operations are not required to be performed. Actions described herein can be performed in a different order.

The separation of various system components does not require separation in all implementations, and the described program components can be included in a single hardware or software product. For example, the NLP component 110, the content selector component 125, or the pooling component 120 can be a single component, app, or program, or a logic device having one or more processing circuits, or part of one or more servers of the data processing system 105.

Having now described some illustrative implementations, it is apparent that the foregoing is illustrative and not limiting, having been presented by way of example. In particular, although many of the examples presented herein involve specific combinations of method acts or system elements, those acts and those elements may be combined in other ways to accomplish the same objectives. Acts, elements and features discussed in connection with one implementation are not intended to be excluded from a similar role in other implementations or implementations.

The phraseology and terminology used herein is for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. The use of “including” “comprising” “having” “containing” “involving” “characterized by” “characterized in that” and variations thereof herein, is meant to encompass the items listed thereafter, equivalents thereof, and additional items, as well as alternate implementations consisting of the items listed thereafter exclusively. In one implementation, the systems and methods described herein consist of one, each combination of more than one, or all of the described elements, acts, or components.

Any references to implementations or elements or acts of the systems and methods herein referred to in the singular may also embrace implementations including a plurality of these elements, and any references in plural to any implementation or element or act herein may also embrace implementations including only a single element. References in the singular or plural form are not intended to limit the presently disclosed systems or methods, their components, acts, or elements to single or plural configurations. References to any act or element being based on any information, act or element may include implementations where the act or element is based at least in part on any information, act, or element.

Any implementation disclosed herein may be combined with any other implementation or embodiment, and references to “an implementation,” “some implementations,” “one implementation” or the like are not necessarily mutually exclusive and are intended to indicate that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the implementation may be included in at least one implementation or embodiment. Such terms as used herein are not necessarily all referring to the same implementation. Any implementation may be combined with any other implementation, inclusively or exclusively, in any manner consistent with the aspects and implementations disclosed herein.

References to “or” may be construed as inclusive so that any terms described using “or” may indicate any of a single, more than one, and all of the described terms. For example, a reference to “at least one of ‘A’ and ‘B’” can include only ‘A’, only ‘B’, as well as both ‘A’ and ‘B’. Such references used in conjunction with “comprising” or other open terminology can include additional items.

Where technical features in the drawings, detailed description or any claim are followed by reference signs, the reference signs have been included to increase the intelligibility of the drawings, detailed description, and claims. Accordingly, neither the reference signs nor their absence have any limiting effect on the scope of any claim elements.

The systems and methods described herein may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the characteristics thereof. For example, receipt by the data processing system 105 of multiple audio input signals (or identification or respective requests or trigger keywords) can occur simultaneously or in sequence from one or more sources. The foregoing implementations are illustrative rather than limiting of the described systems and methods. Scope of the systems and methods described herein is thus indicated by the appended claims, rather than the foregoing description, and changes that come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are embraced therein. 

1.-20. (canceled)
 21. A system to adjust a frequency of data transmissions comprising a server to: receive, by a communication interface of the server, an indication of an unfulfilled slot from a service provider computing device; receive, by the communication interface of the server, a characteristic of each of a plurality of candidate devices, the characteristic based on activity information detected by a sensor of each of the respective plurality of candidate devices; select, from a database of the server, a digital component associated with the service provider; identify, by the server, a first device from the plurality of candidate devices and a first transmission rate based on the characteristic of each of the plurality of candidate devices; identify, by the server, a second device from the plurality of candidate devices and a second transmission rate based on the characteristic of each of the plurality of candidate devices, wherein the second transmission rate is different than the first transmission rate; transmit the digital component to the first device at the first rate; and transmit the digital component to the second device at the second rate.
 22. The system of claim 21, comprising: the server to receive, by the communication interface of the server, a trigger keyword associated with the unfulfilled slot from the service provider; and a pooling component of the server to: generate a pooled data structure based on the trigger keyword, the pooled data structure comprising a first parameter corresponding to the first device and a second parameter corresponding to the second device; transmit the pooled data structure to the service provider computing device to perform an operation defined by the pooled data structure.
 23. The system of claim 21, the server comprising: a direct action application programming interface to: generate a first action data structure based on a trigger keyword and a first parameter corresponding to the first device; generate a second action data structure based on the trigger keyword and a second parameter corresponding to the second device; and a pooling component server to generate a pooled data structure based on the first action data structure and the second action data structure.
 24. The system of claim 21, wherein the characteristic is one of a physical location, a speed associated with the respective plurality of candidate devices, a battery status, a processor utilization, a memory utilization, an interface parameter, a device type, or a bandwidth utilization.
 25. The system of claim 21, comprising: the server to receive, by the communication interface of the server, data packets comprising an input audio signal from the first device in response to the first device receiving the digital component; a natural language processor component to parse the input audio signal to determine a response to the digital component; and a session handler to initiate, based on the response, a conversation session between the service provider computing device and the first device.
 26. The system of claim 21, the server comprising: a pooling component to: determine, based on a heuristic technique applied to the characteristic of the first device and the second device, a pooling parameter for the first device and the second device; and select the first device and the second device from the plurality of candidate devices based on the pooling parameter.
 27. The system of claim 26, wherein the pooling parameter indicates a level of overlap between the first device and the second device.
 28. The system of claim 21, comprising the server configured to: rank the plurality of candidate devices based on the characteristic of each of the plurality of candidate devices; identify the first device based on the ranking of the plurality of candidate devices; and identify the second device based on the ranking of the plurality of candidate devices.
 29. The system of claim 21, wherein the first device and the second device are associated with a same account.
 30. The system of claim 21, the server comprising a session handler to: initiate a first conversation session between the service provider and the first device via which the digital component is transmitted to the first device; and initiating a second conversation session between the service provider and the second device via which the digital component is transmitted to the second device.
 31. A method to adjust a frequency of data transmission, comprising: receiving, by a communication interface of a server, an indication of an unfulfilled slot from a service provider computing device; receiving, by the communication interface of the server, a characteristic of each of a plurality of candidate devices, the characteristic based on activity information detected by a sensor of each of the respective plurality of candidate devices; selecting, from a database of the server, a digital component associated with the service provider; identifying, by the server, a first device from the plurality of candidate devices and a first transmission rate based on the characteristic of each of the plurality of candidate devices; identifying, by the server, a second device from the plurality of candidate devices and a second transmission rate based on the characteristic of each of the plurality of candidate devices, wherein the second transmission rate is different than the first transmission rate; transmitting the digital component to the first device at the first rate; and transmitting the digital component to the second device at the second rate.
 32. The method of claim 31, comprising: receiving, by the communication interface of the server, a trigger keyword associated with the unfulfilled slot from the service provider; generating, by a pooling component of the server, a pooled data structure based on the trigger keyword, the pooled data structure comprising a first parameter corresponding to the first device and a second parameter corresponding to the second device; and transmitting the pooled data structure to the service provider computing device to perform an operation defined by the pooled data structure.
 33. The method of claim 31, comprising: generating, by a direct action application programming interface, a first action data structure based on a trigger keyword and a first parameter corresponding to the first device; generating, by the direct action application programming interface, a second action data structure based on the trigger keyword and a second parameter corresponding to the second device; and generating, by a pooling component of the server, a pooled data structure based on the first action data structure and the second action data structure.
 34. The method of claim 31, wherein the characteristic is one of a physical location, a speed associated with the respective plurality of candidate devices, a battery status, a processor utilization, a memory utilization, an interface parameter, a device type, or a bandwidth utilization.
 35. The method of claim 31, comprising: receiving, by the communication interface of the server, data packets comprising an input audio signal from the first device in response to the first device receiving the digital component; parsing, by a natural language processor component, the input audio signal to determine a response to the digital component; and initiating, by a session handler response to the response, a conversation session between the service provider computing device and the first device.
 36. The method of claim 31, comprising: determining, by a pooling component of the server and based on a heuristic technique applied to the characteristic of the first device and the second device, a pooling parameter for the first device and the second device; and selecting the first device and the second device from the plurality of candidate devices based on the pooling parameter.
 37. The method of claim 32, wherein the pooling parameter indicates a level of overlap between the first device and the second device.
 38. The method of claim 31, comprising: ranking the plurality of candidate devices based on the characteristic of each of the plurality of candidate devices; identifying the first device based on the ranking of the plurality of candidate devices; and identifying the second device based on the ranking of the plurality of candidate devices.
 39. The method of claim 31, wherein the first device and the second device are associated with a same account.
 40. The method of claim 31, comprising: initiating, by a session handler of the server, a first conversation session between the service provider and the first device via which the digital component is transmitted to the first device; and initiating, by the session handler of the server, a second conversation session between the service provider and the second device via which the digital component is transmitted to the second device. 